


The Woman Makes the Man

by YappiChick



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, kiss and make up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 17:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2318318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YappiChick/pseuds/YappiChick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who knew kissing a pretty girl would cause Steve so much trouble?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Woman Makes the Man

**Author's Note:**

> I always was interested with the progression of Peggy and Steve's relationship to go from "Here, let me test that shield for you." to getting all bashful when she sees that Steve has her pic in his compass. So, yeah, movie filler time!

Peggy may have, perhaps, overreacted.  
  
Her heels clacked on the ground as she stormed down the hall, trying to reach for that poise that seemed to have eluded her since finding Steve and that blonde in a clinch, practically making out in front of everyone in the SSR.  
  
Of all the asinine things for Steve to do--  
  
A figure stepped out, blocking her path. Peggy nearly slammed into the chest of a certain colonel who looked none too happy to see her. She took a small step back to better see his face.  
  
Yes, he was certainly in a mood.  
  
“Sir.”

"That was quite a display in there," Phillips said, nodding behind her to the room where she had left an open-jawed Howard and Steve. “Want to explain what the hell happened?”

She pressed her lips together as the raw emotions stirred up again.  What had happened was that she had fooled herself into thinking that there was something different about Steve Rogers. That he was truly different from any of the other men she had met.  
  
Only to be proven wrong.  
  
“Agent Carter.”  
  
Peggy forced herself to brush aside her emotions. There were far more important issues to contend with, such as Schmidt and his growing army. She drew her shoulders up and met the colonel's questioning look with such calm, she surprised herself. "I was just testing the shield that Captain Rogers had picked out, sir. If it couldn't withstand a shot from one of our weapons then it won't stand a chance against Hydra's."  
  
That sounded so reasonable, she almost bought into the half-truth.  
  
Phillips didn’t look as convinced. "You're good, Agent Carter." He crossed his arms, frowning slightly. "If Loranne hadn’t come into my office, worrying that you were going to kill her for kissing Rogers, I might have believed you."  
  
He leaned back, appraising her for a second before he spoke again. "Hell may have no wrath like a woman scorned, but when you combine that with your ability to hit a moving target from 50 feet away..." He shook his head.  "Control your temper. I don't need to deal with some sort of lover's quarrel while I'm busy with Schmidt."

She nodded. "Understood."

He started to walk away before he spun around. "And for what it's worth, I’m damn sure Rogers didn’t know what was coming.  I think he was just too polite to say anything."  
  
Peggy cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sure there are a few women who will appreciate his manners."  
  
Phillips coughed, but Peggy was pretty sure he was smothering a laugh.   
  
How dare he think this was amusing! She knew she looked the fool to Phillips after all she had done to make herself look like some pathetic woman pining after the great Captain America. Well, Phillips would never have to worry about that again.

Phillips was still watching her as she pasted a thin smile on her face as she walked away from the colonel.  She needed to go for a walk, away from Phillips and, most of all, away from Steve.

She hoped that channeling her energy into walking would calm her, but each step she took only exacerbated her anger. Unwanted thoughts of Steve kept entering into her mind. Had she really thought Steve would wait for her to be his dance partner now that he was America’s new hope? And, had she really been considering the idea of breaking the promise she had made, telling herself that she would not become romantically involved with anyone as long as the war continued?  
  
An image of Steve, sitting alone as the rain poured down in the base in Italy, popped into her mind.   
  
She sighed. Maybe Phillips had been right. Maybe she did have a crush.  
  
Not any longer.  
  
Despite her ire, she allowed herself a brief moment to consider what could have been between the two of them.   
  
There would no doubt be a night of teaching Steve how to dance. He would be a gentleman, not wanting to stand too close to be considered inappropriate, but she would close the gap between their bodies. Their near scandalous behavior would garner a few raised eyebrows, no doubt, but neither of them would care. They deserved one night of happiness, after all.   
  
The band would play something slow and they would saunter over to a darkened corner of the room, not quite caring if anyone noticed them. Then Steve would say--

“Agent Carter.”   
  
The two words pulled Peggy out of her reverie and shoved her back into the harsh reality of easy men and lust-driven secretaries.

  
“Peggy.”

 

Steve.

 

She pressed her lips together as she drew in a long breath, shoving her daydream into the furthest depths of her mind. He was either the stupidest or bravest man in all of Europe to come after her after what she had done not fifteen minutes prior.

 

“We need to talk. Please.”

 

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. She knew underneath the anger, there was a part of her that wanted to do nothing more than reconcile with Steve, but she would not allow herself to become vulnerable again. “I don’t have anything to say to you,” she said as she continued walking.

 

Steve clearly didn’t know anything about women because he kept following her. “Peggy, just give me five minutes to explain. Please.”

 

She turned and faced him. Almost immediately, she recognized the look on his face. It was the same one he had when he sat in the driver’s seat of that jeep, ready to go across enemy lines to save his friend, ill-prepared or not. Now that same determination was aimed at her.

 

Damn him and his ability to make her do things against her better judgement. She spun around and walked into an empty office. “You have sixty seconds.”

 

“It wasn’t what you thought you saw--”

 

She knew exactly what she had seen Steve and that...that other woman doing she didn’t need a minute to listen to Steve’s back-peddling. “Thirty seconds.”

 

He fumbled with his words for several seconds. Finally, he looked at her and met her fiery look. “She didn’t kiss me.”

 

Peggy’s eyes narrowed. Before this, she would have thought it was impossible for Steve to lie. And yet he was looking at her without one iota of guilt. “I know what I saw, Captain Rogers.”

 

“Peggy.” He took a step closer to her. She lifted her gaze. “She kissed him.” He held out the morning’s newspaper proclaiming the heroism of his actions. “She kissed Captain America.”

 

She raised an eyebrow. “So, that’s what this morning was? An attempt to keep the persona alive?”

 

“No.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I panicked. It’s not like I have ever had to deal with that kind of situation before.”

 

“Well, I’d say you handled yourself quite well.”

 

“Peggy.” He moved so close to her she swore she could feel the heat coming off him. Still, she didn’t break eye contact from him. “That kiss didn’t mean anything. You know that.”

 

“You don’t know what I know, Captain.”

 

He took a step back. Frustration entered into his voice. “It wasn’t real, Peggy. Just like everything else I have done since Senator Brant talked to me in Brooklyn.”

 

He frowned as he seemed to gather his thoughts. “When I went on tour, for the first time in my life, people paid attention to me. They thought I was brave and strong...but it didn’t take me long to realize it’s not me that they were cheering. It was him.” He nodded towards the poster of Captain America on the wall that hadn’t been taking down.

 

“I knew then that Steve Rogers couldn’t compete with Captain America.”

 

It was that simple sentence of humility that caused Peggy’s anger to deflate.

 

Steve continued. “When you told me that you believed that I was meant for more than being paraded on stage, it was like I felt myself come alive again. But there are some people --most people--  who will never see me more than Captain America.”

 

She wanted to reach out and grab his hand, giving it a squeeze of assurance. Or, better yet, give him a kiss that would make him forget about what’s-her-name.   
  
“You saw me before...this.” He gestured at his body. “You know as well as I do that no woman has ever wanted to kiss Steve Rogers.”

 

She cleared her throat as her eyes locked with his. “Well, I wouldn’t say that.”

 

His eyes widened for a briefest of seconds. Just as he was about to start speaking, Howard stuck his head in the room.

 

Figured.

 

“Phillips sent me in here to make sure you didn’t castrate Rogers.” He glanced at Steve. “You doin’ alright, pal?”

 

“I’m fine.” He looked down at Peggy. She nodded slightly. “We’re fine.”

 

“Good. Now if you’re not too busy, we need to get some measurements for that uniform of yours.” His look moved to Peggy. “Do you two need a moment to kiss and make up?”

 

“That’s not necessary, Mr. Stark.” Steve said, a blush staining his cheeks. She didn’t miss the quick glance he shot at her lips.

 

“Listen, rule number one when it comes to women: If she’s so mad, she’s willing to shoot in your general direction--” He glanced at Peggy nervously.  “It’s necessary to kiss and make up. Trust me.”

 

She pressed her lips together. “Howard, now is not the time.”

 

“If you say so.” Then, he winked in Peggy’s direction before walking out of the room.

 

That smug son of a--

 

Steve cleared his throat after Howard had left them alone. “I said it wasn’t necessary. Not that I’m not interested,” he said quietly, as if mostly to himself.

 

Now it was Peggy’s turn to get flustered. His gaze moved back to her lips and she was sure she knew what he was thinking.

 

A wave of guilt fell over her. It was up to her to stop this before they did something they regretted -- or worse, something they both enjoyed.

 

“Steve…” There was an odd combination of remorse and longing in the one word.

 

It was enough to stop him from whatever he was thinking of doing. He straightened, as if he remembered where they were. “I know, Peggy.” He didn’t even bother hiding his disappointment.

 

Peggy wanted to kiss him right then and there. She settled for straightening his already straight tie. She could feel his heartbeat under her fingers as she looked at him, moving from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes.

 

The moment swelled until she was sure that Steve was going to lean down and kiss her, despite whatever half-hearted protests she had made, but in the end, he took a step backwards with a reluctant look on his face.

 

“I probably should go see Stark.”

 

She nodded, more frustrated than relieved at his self-control. “I would hate for Phillips to come in here to look for us.”

 

“Exactly.” He turned around and started walk away.

 

The almost-forgotten newspaper that he held in his fluttered as he moved across the room. There was one more thing she needed to tell him before he left. “Steve, wait.”

 

He stopped and turned around as she made her way to stand in front of him. She nodded towards the paper.  “Captain America is nothing without Steve Rogers,” she whispered.

 

He looked at her for a second, his face unreadable. Then he swallowed before saying, “And I am nothing without you.” Underneath a modicum of confidence and a healthy amount of determination in his voice, there was a quiet, desperate hope.   
  
In that moment, she forgot the hurt from this morning and her vow not to pursue a relationship while the war was going on. Besides, one little peck hardly constituted anything serious, she told herself. Then, before Howard could stick his nosy self in the room again, she leaned up and placed a whisper of a kiss on his lips.

 

Mountains didn’t move and the ground didn’t shake, but there was a warmth that spread from Peggy’s lips down to her toes. His hand brushed against her cheek as she pulled away with a soft smile on her face.

 

Phillips had been wrong, she decided. This wasn’t a crush.

 

This was something more.

  
  



End file.
